Congress waits to see if McConnell will join ‘fiscal cliff’ debate

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Source: washington post

The public collapse of talks between President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) has in the past been the signal for Mitch McConnell to step into the spotlight.

For weeks, the effort to avert severe austerity measures has focused on talks between the president and the speaker. Now that those talks have faltered, attention has turned to the Senate in hopes that less acrimonious negotiations there could produce a “fiscal cliff” escape route.

Key to those hopes is McConnell (R-Ky.), whose dealmaking prowess over the past two years was essential to the negotiations that led to the fiscal cliff, and may now be equally critical in finding a solution to the austerity crisis.

So far, the Senate minority leader has remained in the shadows. That has led some lawmakers to wonder if he will play the dealmaker this time. Democrats question whether McConnell’s 2014 reelection bid will impede his ability to support a deal.